Energy. TABLE 14.1 Energy Intensity for Total Primary Energy* Energy Intensity (Kgoe/US$)**

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1 14 Energy INTRODUCTION India is the fourth largest consumer of energy in the world after USA, China and Russia but it is not endowed with abundant energy resources. It must, therefore, meet its development needs by using all available domestic resources of coal, uranium, oil, hydro and other renewable resources, and supplementing domestic production by imports. High reliance on imported energy is costly given the prevailing energy prices which are not likely to soften; it also impinges adversely on energy security. Meeting the energy needs of achieving 8 per cent 9 per cent economic growth while also meeting energy requirements of the population at affordable prices therefore presents a major challenge. It calls for a sustained effort at increasing energy efficiency to contain the growth in demand for energy while increasing domestic production as much as possible to keep import dependence at a reasonable level. ENERGY INTENSITY OF GDP Energy intensity, defined as the energy input associated with a unit of gross domestic product (GDP), is a measure of the energy efficiency of a nation s economy. India s energy intensity has been declining over the years (See Table 14.1) and is expected to decline further Falling energy intensity implies that the growth in energy used is less than the growth of GDP, which in turn implies that energy elasticity, that is, the ratio of the growth of energy to the growth of GDP is less than unity. In fact, this elasticity has been declining over the years. Total primary energy GDP elasticity Period TABLE 14.1 Energy Intensity for Total Primary Energy* Energy Intensity (Kgoe/US$)** * Energy intensity indicated is energy required to produce a unit of GDP. ** kgoe: Kilograms of oil equivalent. Source: Planning Commission. was around 0.73 during the period to and it declined to 0.66 in the period to The elasticity of commercial energy is higher than that of total primary energy because of the ongoing shift from non-commercial to commercial energy. However, even this elasticity declined from a level of 1.09 in the period to and to 0.91 during to The decline in share of non-commercial energy could be attributed to increased availability of clean fuels and replacing traditional fuels such as wood and cow dung cakes to meet household energy needs. The Twelfth Plan continues to focus on enhancing household access to cleaner forms of energy with an aim to promote sustainable development A National Mission on Energy Efficiency (NMEE) has been launched to improve energy efficiency in all areas of the economy including power, transport, urban housing, consumer goods and

2 Energy 131 industries. As a part of Clean Energy Mechanism, which is a global initiative, a number of measures are being planned for improving efficiency in lighting by use of light-emitting diodes (LEDs) and superefficient appliances. A strategy has also been devised to improve the share of energy-efficient modes of transport. This improvement in efficiency will lead to reduced energy intensity of GDP and lower elasticity of energy against GDP. It is estimated that during the Plan, the elasticity may further improve by about 10 per cent by the end of the Plan Table 14.2 shows energy intensity of some select countries for the year 2010, with GDP measured in terms of 2010 USD purchasing power parity (PPP). India s energy intensity using PPP GDP is 0.191, which is on par with the world average but higher than most of the European countries. China s energy intensity is roughly 1.5 times that of India. TABLE 14.2 Energy Intensity S. No Country Energy Intensity (Kgoe/US$) 1 United Kingdom Germany Japan Brazil USA China South Korea India Source: World Energy Outlook EXPANDING ACCESS TO ENERGY Higher levels of GDP will obviously require higher levels of energy as an input but in addition to this requirement India s energy planning must allow for the need to expand access to clean energy at affordable prices for the bulk of the population. Village electrification and connection of rural households to electric supply under Rajiv Gandhi Grameen Vidyutikaran Yojana (RGGVY) is a critical instrument. The supply of kerosene/liquefied petroleum gas (LPG) at affordable prices is equally important There is ample evidence of unmet demand in rural areas indicating the need to expand access even as we expand total supply. The NSS 66th Round Survey conducted by National Sample Survey Organisation (NSSO) for shows improvement in access to cleaner forms of energy by households for cooking and lighting purposes as compared to the NSS 61st Round Survey for Access to electricity in this period increased from 92 per cent of urban households to 94 per cent and from 55 per cent of rural households to 67.3 per cent. Since , 1.40 crore below poverty line (BPL) households have been provided electricity connection under RGGVY. If we add only the number of BPL households connected during last three years to the NSSO data, the estimated household electrification level as on 31 March 2012 would be of the order of 75 per cent. However, the availability of electricity supply continues to remain an area of concern, particularly in rural areas, where consumers get supplies for less than eight hours a day in certain states. Though 67 per cent of the rural households are reported to have access to electricity in , their per capita consumption of electricity is only around 8 units per month, which is just one-third of reported consumption of 24 units in urban areas. This is because of poor quality of electricity supplies and reflects significant unmet demand Achieving universal access to electricity is one of the most important goals and the Government plans to provide electricity to each and every household in the country in the next five years by extending RGGVY programme to every habitation irrespective of the size of the population. Subtransmission, distribution network and renewable sources will need to be expanded suitably in consultation with the State Governments to realise this objective. Adequate investments in the distribution networks will improve the quality of electricity supply for the existing consumers as well as the targeted consumers in the next five years The percentage of all households using LPG as cooking fuel increased from 57 per cent of the households in to around 66 per cent in Access to LPG supplies in rural areas increased from

3 132 Twelfth Five Year Plan TABLE 14.3 Household Access (%) Energy Source 61st Round th Round Rural Urban Total Rural Urban Total Electricity LPG Note: Access to energy data for Census 2011 shows primary energy sources for lighting in 2011 as 55.3 per cent rural, 92.7 per cent urban and 67.2 per cent overall, as against 43.5 per cent rural, 87.6 per cent urban and 55.8 per cent overall in The difference in NSSO and Census data is possibly due to differences in questionnaire. It will need to be further looked into. 8.6 per cent in to around 15.5 per cent in the year Besides, per capita consumption reported in rural areas was just 0.3 kg per month as compared to 1.8 kg in urban areas. Since the disparity between urban and rural per capita total consumption is much lower it is reasonable to assume that potential in rural areas is much higher, but is left unsatisfied because of insufficient access. Women being the main energy users and primary energy suppliers are worst affected by restricted LPG supply. This poses one of the most difficult barriers to the empowerment of women. Table 14.3 shows the access levels in and ENERGY DEMAND AND SUPPLY The demand for energy during the Plan will increase as the economy grows and as access in rural areas expands. Table 14.4 presents estimates of the total primary energy demand projected to the end of the Thirteenth Plan. The annual average growth rate of the total energy requirement is expected to accelerate from 5.1 per cent per year in the Eleventh Plan to 5.7 per cent per year in the Twelfth Plan and 5.4 per cent per year in the Thirteenth Plan. The faster growth in supply in the Twelfth Plan is in part a reflection of the need to meet suppressed demand The demand for non-commercial energy is expected to decline with increasing expansion of the network and access to commercial energy. As shown in Table 14.4, whereas commercial energy is expected to grow at 6.91 per cent in the five years up to , non-commercial energy is projected to grow at only 2.6 per cent in the same period. The growth of non-commercial energy is projected to decline to around 1.5 per cent in the next 10 years Table 14.5 shows the share of each energy source in total domestic production and also its share (including imports) in the total commercial energy consumption. The most important point to note is that coal remains the dominant source of primary energy. Domestic production of coal and lignite account for two-third of total production of commercial energy in and is projected to be about the same in As a percentage of total consumption of commercial energy, the share of coal and lignite is projected to increase to 57 per cent, from a level of 50 per cent in While share of oil in total commercial energy consumption is expected to decline from 37.5 per cent in to 23.3 per cent in , the share of natural gas and liquefied natural gas (LNG) is projected to rise from 8.5 per cent to 13 per cent in the same period. The combined share of oil and natural gas in energy consumption was 24.7 per cent in and is expected to be about the same in The supply from renewables is expected to increase rapidly from 24,503 MW by the end of the Eleventh Plan to 54,503 MW by the end of the Twelfth and 99,617 MW by the end of thethirteenth. This fourfold increase in the next 10 years is expected to continue in subsequent years as policies provide a strong incentive for the renewables. Nevertheless the base is small and the share of renewables in total commercial energy used will remain small. It is expected to rise from about 1 per cent in to 1.43 per cent in and just under 2 per cent in Though small, the share of renewable energy in India is comparable with that in many other countries: USA (1.7 per cent), Indonesia (1.4 per cent), Thailand (1.0 per cent) and China

4 Energy 133 DOMESTIC PRODUCTION TABLE 14.4 Trends in Supply of Primary Commercial Energy (Actual) (Actual) (Provisional) (Projected) Coal Lignite Crude Oil Natural Gas Hydro Power Nuclear Power Renewable Energy (in mtoe)* (Projected) Total Domestic commercial Energy Non-commercial Energy (1.93) (2.6 %) (1.5 %) (1.5 %) Total IMPORTS Coal Petroleum Products LNG Hydro power Total Net Imports Total Commercial Energy (growth over the previous five years) (5.01 %) Total Primary Energy (4.09 %) (6.25 %) (5.28 %) *mtoe: million tons of oil equivalent. Source: Planning Commission. Note: Figures in brackets are annual average growth rates over the previous five years period (6.91 %) (5.69 %) (6.30 %) (5.41 %) (0.5 per cent). Brazil at (3.1 per cent) is significantly higher. We have made a good start but there is need to do more Even though domestic production of energy resources is projected to increase, import dependence will continue at a high level. The main area of import will be crude oil, where nearly 78 per cent of the demand will have to be met from imports by the end of the Twelfth Plan. However, import dependence for coal is also estimated to increase from 18.8 per cent in to 22.4 per cent by the end of the Twelfth Plan and 25.9 per cent by the end of the Thirteenth Plan. It is estimated that the import dependence for coal, LNG and crude oil taken together in the terminal year of the Twelfth Plan is likely to remain at the Eleventh Plan level of 36 per cent. However, this assumes that we are able to realise projected domestic production levels of coal, petroleum and natural gas. If this is not achieved, the level of import dependence would increase further if the GDP growth rates projected are to be maintained. ENERGY PRICING Energy pricing is an economically important but also politically sensitive issue, which will pose major challenges in the Twelfth Plan. While the political sensitivity of energy prices is self-evident,

5 134 Twelfth Five Year Plan Share in Commercial Energy Production TABLE 14.5 Share of Each Fuel in Total Energy Production and Consumption Actual Actual (Provisional) (Projected) (in percentage) (Projected) Coal and Lignite Crude Oil Natural Gas Hydro Power Nuclear Power Renewable Energy Share in Total Commercial Energy Supply Coal and Lignite Crude Oil Natural Gas Hydro Power Nuclear Power Renewable Energy the economic role of rational energy pricing is not adequately appreciated. Rational energy prices help to balance consumer energy demand with producer supply, providing incentives to reduce consumption on the one hand and to stimulate production on the other. As a general rule, energy prices should be aligned with the global energy prices, especially when large imports are involved Misalignment of energy prices poses both microeconomic and macroeconomic problems. At the microeconomic level, underpricing energy to the consumer reduces the incentive to be energy-efficient and also promotes leakage of subsidised products for sale in open market and also (in case of kerosene) adulteration. Underpricing to the producer reduces both the incentive and also the ability to invest in the sector, depressing production and increasing reliance on imports. This obviously undermines energy security. At the macroeconomic level, misalignment either hits producers as stated above, leading to excessive import dependence with implications for the balance of payments, or if producers are sought to be insulated, it necessitates a subsidy, which places a burden on the budget Over the years, India s energy prices have become misaligned, and are now much lower than global prices for many products. The extent of misalignment is substantial, leading to large un-targeted subsidies. The implications of price misalignment are discussed in the individual sections relating to different sources of energy. ENERGY SECURITY Energy security involves ensuring uninterrupted supply of energy to support the economic and commercial activities necessary for sustained economic growth. Energy security is obviously more difficult to ensure if there is large dependence on imported energy. This calls for action in several areas. 1. First, and most importantly, the domestic production of coal, oil and gas and other energy sources has to be stepped up. Some of the recent issues in this regard have been availability of land, clearances for environment and forest and implementation of the Scheduled Tribes and Other Traditional Forest Dwellers (Recognition of Forest Rights) Act, Uncertainty about

6 Energy 135 production sharing contracts has also posed problems. Management strategies and procedures will have to be devised for ensuring effective implementation of fuel development projects while meeting the requirements of above policies and legislations. 2. Second, a stable and attractive policy regime has to be provided to ensure substantial private investment including foreign investment in oil and natural gas blocks and new capacities for renewable energy. Producers must have clarity in the price they will receive and an assurance of a stable tax regime. Since oil exploration is a global industry the terms India offers must be comparable with those offered elsewhere. In this context the entire structure of New Exploration Licensing Policy (NELP) contracts for oil and gas need to be reviewed. 3. Third, investments in renewable energies need to be strongly emphasised. By present projections, the share of renewable energy in total energy consumption will only reach 2 per cent by Fourth, investments in energy assets in foreign countries, especially for coal, oil and gas and uranium should be stepped up. 5. Fifth, to meet any possible disruption in oil supplies, on which we are import-dependent to the extent of more than 80 per cent, storage capacities need to be created. The Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) countries have generally created these capacities to the extent of 90 days of their domestic demand. We have created the capacity for 5 million tonnes. It has, however, not been fully utilised so far. There will be a need to increase this gradually and utilise it fully. Innovative ways will have to be found to fill up these tankages POWER SECTOR The electric power sector consists of a mix of plants depending on different primary fuels, including conventional sources like coal, lignite, natural gas, oil, hydro and nuclear power; and non-conventional sources like wind and solar power, and agricultural and domestic waste. However, coal remains the dominant primary energy source used in power generation accounting for 67 per cent of total generation. The power sector is currently at a crucial juncture of its evolution from a dominantly public sector environment to a more competitive power sector, with many private producers and greater reliance on markets, subject to regulation. The performance of the power sector shows many positive features, especially relating to the pace of addition to power generation but there are numerous problems relating to fuel supply which need to be resolved as also problems relating to the financial viability of the operation of the distribution companies (Discoms). REVIEW OF THE ELEVENTH PLAN The Eleventh Plan was the period in which the Electricity Act of 2003, which was enacted during the Tenth Plan period was to be fully operationalised. The objectives of the Act are to consolidate the laws related to generation, transmission, distribution, trading and use of electricity, and taking measures conducive for the development of electrical industry, protecting interests of consumers and supply of electricity to all areas, rationalisation of electricity tariff, ensuring transparent policies regarding subsidies, promotion of efficient and environmentally benign policies, constitution of regulatory commission and establishment of Appellate Tribunals. While substantial progress was made in setting up the institutional structure, there are several important areas where reforms have yet to take place. These are: 1. Open access to consumers, which is mandated under the Electricity Act, remains ineffective due to reluctance of state utilities to comply. 2. Trading of power at very high rates and its purchase by utilities even though not willing to pass on the higher cost in the form of consumer tariffs. This has a distortionary effect and threatens to jeopardise the financial viability of the Discoms. 3. Energy audit of power utilities has not been undertaken. 4. Electricity retail tariffs have remained static for many years because of political pressure, widening the gap between the average tariff and average cost of supply.

7 136 Twelfth Five Year Plan 5. The distribution companies suffer from serious financial stress. Losses of the distribution utilities remain high. The annual loss of the State power utilities (without subsidy) was `33,698 crore during and increased to `59,891 crore in the year (provisional). The State Discoms cannot sustain such high losses indefinitely. Physical Achievements An important gain in the Eleventh Plan was the ramping up of the pace of addition to generation capacity. The Eleventh Plan aimed at a substantial increase with a target for additional capacity of 78,700 MW. Actual achievement in the Eleventh Plan was 54,964 MW. Sector-wise and mode-wise capacity addition achievements are given in Table This is 30 per cent lower than the original target, but it is more than twice the addition achieved in the Tenth Plan. More importantly, the pace of capacity creation picked up in the Eleventh Plan, and there is at present about 90,000 MW of generation capacity currently under construction which would achieve commercial production in the Twelfth Plan. If these projects proceed to completion as scheduled, and a strong effort is made to initiate new projects in the first year of the Twelfth Plan, we could reasonably expect to achieve addition to capacity in the Twelfth Plan of the order of 80,000 1,00,000 MW While the pace of addition to generating capacity is commendable, there has not been comparable progress in delivering fuel and the availability of both coal and gas to the new power plants is not assured. Resolution of this problem must have high priority in the Twelfth Plan The main physical milestones achieved in the power sector during the Eleventh Plan are summarised in Box TABLE 14.6 Installed Capacity Addition during the Eleventh Plan (in MW) Type Target Actual Central State Private Total Central State Private Total Hydro 8,654 3,482 3,491 15,627 1,550 2,702 1,292 5,544 Thermal 24,840 23,301 11,552 59,693 12,790 14,030 21,720 48,540 Nuclear 3,380 3, Total 36,874 26,783 15,043 78,700 15,220 16,732 23,012 54,964 Source: Central Electricity Authority (CEA). Box 14.1 Achievements in Power Sector during the Eleventh Plan Capacity addition during the Eleventh Plan period has been at 54,964 MW which is 69.8 per cent of the original target and 88.1 per cent of the reduced target of 62,374 MW set in the Mid-term Appraisal (MTA). It is more than 2.5 times that of any of the earlier Plans. Total installed capacity as on 31 March 2012, including renewable energy sources of the country is 1,99,877 MW. The share of renewable energy capacity is about 12.2 per cent Approximately 69,926 circuit km (ckm) of transmission line. 1,50,362 MVA capacity of alternating current (AC) substations and 1,750 MW capacity of high-voltage, direct current (HVDC) substations were added to the existing transmission systems. Total number of villages electrified till March 2012 was about 5.6 lakhs, indicating that more than 93 per cent village electrification has been achieved. However, a large number of small habitations still remain unconnected. Various activities under different schemes of Bureau of Energy Efficiency (BEE) and Ministry of Power (MoP) have resulted in saving in avoided power capacity of 11,000 MW. Works relating to 18 units for life extension aggregating to 1,931 MW and 69 units for repair and maintenance (R&M) aggregating to 17,435 MW have been completed during the Eleventh Plan.

8 Energy 137 Electricity Generation The Eleventh Plan estimated a terminal year ( ) requirement of electricity generation from utilities at 1,038 billion units (BU), implying growth rate of 9.1 per cent (CAGR) per annum over the gross generation level of BU in (the terminal year of the Tenth Plan). As against the above, the actual generation from utilities in was BU, a shortfall of about 16 per cent, implying an annual growth rate of only 5.51 per cent for power from the utilities. The mode-wise and sector-wise energy generation for is given in Table After allowing for captive generation of about 110 BU in , the growth rate in total power generation is likely to be 5.7 per cent (CAGR) over the Eleventh Plan period, against the Plan target of 9.5 per cent. This has resulted in a demand supply gap. On 31 March 2012, it was estimated that the peak deficit gap was 11.1 per cent and energy deficit was 8.5 per cent. These deficits are lower than the corresponding deficits of 13.8 per cent and 9.6 per cent respectively at the end of the Tenth Plan, but there is a clear need to step up capacities and energy availability as the economy grows The actual cumulative capacity as on 31 March 2012 was 1,99,877 MW, including 24,503 MW of renewable sources of energy, the details of which are given in Table The Eleventh Plan has clearly succeeded in creating the precondition for achieving much larger addition to capacity in future. The performance of the private sector exceeded targets (see Table 14.6) whereas the Government sector fell short, with the shortfall being the generation in the Central sector. The share of the private sector in the total installed capacity has risen to about 42 per cent TABLE 14.7 Mode-wise/Sector-wise Break-up of Generation (in Billion Units) Type Central State Private Total Hydro (Incl. Bhutan Import) Thermal (a) Coal (b) Lignite (c) Gas (5.28) (5.28) Nuclear Total (Incl. Bhutan Import) Source: CEA (5.28) (5.28) TABLE 14.8 All-India Cumulative Generating Capacity (as on 31 March 2012) (in MW) Hydro Thermal Nuclear RES (MNRE)* Total Centre 9, , , , State/UTs 27, , , , Private 2, , , , Total 38, ,31, , , ,99, * MNRE: Ministry of New and Renewable Energy. Source: CEA.

9 138 Twelfth Five Year Plan of the incremental capacity in the Eleventh Plan. The capacity addition program has benefited from increase in the potential of the domestic equipment suppliers like Bharat Heavy Electricals Limited (BHEL), and also increased imports. BHEL has now the potential to deliver about 15,000 20,000 MW of new capacity per year as against 6,000 MW per year a few years ago. Further, more private-sector equipment manufacturers are also entering the market and the total capacity may increase to about 40,000 MW per year by Ultra-Mega Power Projects The Ultra Mega Power Projects (UMPPs) Programme, which brings in private investment into power generation, was a major initiative of the Eleventh Plan. So far power purchase agreements have been signed for four UMPPs of 4,000 MW each on the basis of competitive tariff-based bidding. They are based in Sasan (Madhya Pradesh), Mundra (Gujarat), Krishnapatnam (Andhra Pradesh) and Tilaiya (Jharkhand). Out of these, one unit of 800 MW of Mundra by Tata Power has been commissioned in March more supercritical UMPPs are being planned covering Chhattisgarh, Gujarat, Tamil Nadu, Andhra Pradesh, Odisha, Maharashtra and Karnataka. An important element of this programme is the induction of supercritical technology, which is an important shift towards energy efficiency. Unfortunately, some of these projects are plagued with uncertainties regarding fuel supply because they were based on imported coal and changes in government policies in the countries where the coal mines were located have raised the cost of coal whereas the power tariff is based on a competitive bid which does not contain a provision for passing on such increases. Super Critical Projects under Construction Thermal power stations based on present-day subcritical technology have efficiency of about 38 per cent. To improve energy efficiency further, it was decided that new thermal power plants should be based on supercritical technology. Already, eleven supercritical units with a total capacity of 7,400 MW have been installed. Large number of supercritical units are under construction and about 50 per cent of coal-based capacity addition in the Twelfth Plan is expected be based on supercritical technology. For the Thirteenth Plan, it has been decided that all coal-fired capacity addition shall be through supercritical units. Higher stream parameters of 565/593 degree centigrade are being adopted for supercritical units which would lead to design efficiency of over 40 per cent and lower CO 2 emissions by about 5 per cent as compared to a typical 500 MW subcritical unit Initiatives have been taken by the Government for developing indigenous capacity/capability for manufacturing of supercritical boilers and turbine generators as indigenous manufacturing capacity is considered vital to support large-scale induction of supercritical units envisaged. BHEL has entered into a technology collaboration with M/s Alstom and Siemens for supercritical technology for boilers and turbine generators respectively. BHEL has intimated that it had augmented its manufacturing capacity to 20,000 MW per year by March Further, setting up of joint ventures (JVs)/subsidiary companies by international manufactures of supercritical boilers and turbine generators was encouraged. As a result, several JVs have come up in the country for setting up manufacturing facilities for supercritical boilers and turbines generators. Manufacturing capacities which may come up are indicated in Table The Government of India has also approved the policy of encouraging domestic production of supercritical plants by bulk-tendering of such units. Two bulk orders MW supercritical units for National Thermal Power Corporation (NTPC) and Damodar Valley Corporation (DVC) and MW supercritical units for NTPC were approved and being implemented. Transmission A programme for construction of 88,515 ckm transmission lines for evacuation of power from generating stations was envisaged at the beginning of the Eleventh Plan based on the target for capacity addition that was planned. When the capacity target was scaled down to 62,374 MW at the time of the Mid-Term Appraisal (MTA), the target for transmission was scaled down to 68,673 ckm. Details of

10 Energy 139 TABLE 14.9 Planned Manufacturing Capacity MW Per Annum Joint Venture Boilers Turbine-Generators Remarks L&T MHI 4,000 MW 4,000 MW Production for boiler and turbine commenced Alstom Bharat Forge 5,000 MW All manufacturing facilities for manufacture of turbines to be completed by June 2013 Toshiba JSW 3,000 MW All manufacturing facilities to be completed by April 2013 Gammon Ansaldo 4,000 MW Probable date of completion of facilities December 2012 (2,000 MW) and December 2014 (additional 2,000 MW) Thermax Babcock and Wilcox BGR Hitachi Boilers Private Limited BGR Hitachi Turbine Generator Private Limited 3,000 MW All manufacturing facilities to be completed by September Boilers per annum (~3,000 MW) 5 Turbine Generators per annum (~3,000 MW) All manufacturing facilities to be completed by January 2013 All manufacturing facilities to be completed by July 2014 Doosan Chennai Works Private Limited 2,200 MW (Both subcritical and Supercritical) DCW Pvt. Ltd. is 100 per cent subsidiary of Doosan Korea. Company incorporated in India on 20 July 2000 Existing facility Chennai Additional facility acquired at Mannur village, Kancheepuram district Production from additional facilities to start by Sept the achievement of transmission lines at the end of the Eleventh Plan are given in Table The addition achieved during the Eleventh Plan is 69,926 ckm which is greater than the scaled-down target. Distribution Distribution is the weakest link in the power system with large losses leading to financial unviability. The cash losses of utilities selling power directly to consumers, after accounting for subsidy from the State Governments, increased from `17,620 crore in year to `42,415 crore in year The cumulative book losses (on accrual basis) of State Discoms have increased from `79,339 crore as on 31 March 2009 to `1,06,247 crore at the end of year The net worth of the Discoms has decreased from `31,972 crore to `14,786 crore as on 31 March While some of the States have shown improvements in the financial health of their utilities, others are yet to demonstrate the impact of the policy initiatives Distribution companies have not been able to recover the cost of supply through tariff, and the gap between Average Cost of Supply (ACS) and Average Revenue Realised (ARR) has widened and the same has been increasing over the years. This gap is partly a reflection of lower tariff, but it also reflects high aggregate technical and commercial (AT&C) losses which reduce the average revenue realised. The trends in AT&C for all States are shown in Table The position is especially serious in the special category states, which have losses ( , Provisional) varying between per cent in the case of Uttarakhand to per cent in Jammu & Kashmir. Himachal Pradesh with AT&C loss of per cent is an exception. The non-special category states have generally performed better, though the losses are still unacceptably high in several of these, for example, Jharkhand (45.11 per cent), Bihar (49.99 per cent), Chhattisgarh (36.41 per cent), Uttar Pradesh (37.86 per cent), Odisha (44.35 per cent)

11 140 Twelfth Five Year Plan Transmission System Type/Voltage Class Transmission Lines TABLE Cumulative Achievement of Transmission Lines at the End of the Eleventh Plan Unit At the End of the Tenth Plan (March 2007) Addition during the Eleventh Plan At the End of the Eleventh Plan (March 2012) 765 kv ckm 1,704 3,546 5,250 HVDC kv Bi-pole ckm 5,872 3,560 9, kv ckm 69,174 37,645 1,06, /220 kv ckm 1,10,805 25,175 1,35,980 Total ckm 1,87,555 69,926 2,57,481 Substations 765 kv MVA 0 25,000 25, kv MVA 92,942 58,085 1,51, /220 kv MVA 1,56,497 67,277 2,23,774 Total MVA 2,49,439 1,50,362 3,99,801 HVDC Bi-pole link capacity MW 5,000 1,750 6,750 Back-to-back capacity MW 3, ,000 Total MW 8,000 1,750 9,750 Source: CEA. and Madhya Pradesh (41.10 per cent). In contrast, Andhra Pradesh, Gujarat, Punjab, Delhi and Tamil Nadu show relatively good performance in containing AT&C losses Due to unsustainable levels of AT&C losses and other inefficiencies in metering, billing and collection, the utilities are not able recover the cost of supply resulting in widening of gap between average cost of supply and tariff. Table shows recent trends in financial parameters of major States The Comptroller and Auditor General (CAG) of India has carried out a study involving 24 utilities on issues impacting financial health of power distribution utilities in India and has pointed out the need for rationalisation of tariffs charged for various consumers. Unless the measures to contain these inefficiencies are taken, the Discoms will not be able to break even. Further, default in payments, nonmetering of consumers, inadequate energy auditing, inadequate investments in upgradation of the distribution system are some of the other issues that need to be addressed. This situation is a cause of serious concern and remedial steps need to be taken on priority basis in the Twelfth Plan to ensure that utilities generate adequate surpluses to support their ongoing projects. Restructured Accelerated Power Development and Reform Programme (R-APDRP) To address the problems of distribution losses, the Central Government had launched the APDRP scheme in as an Additional Central Assistance (ACA) scheme to finance the modernisation of sub-transmission and distribution networks with the objective to reduce AT&C losses to 15 per cent. This programme was not effective in reducing losses. A Re-structured APDRP was approved as a Central scheme in 2008 with a total outlay of `51,577 crore over the Eleventh Plan period. The focus of the programme is on actual, demonstrable performance in terms of AT&C loss reduction. The coverage of the programme is for the urban areas towns and cities with a population of more than 30,000 (10,000 for

12 Energy 141 TABLE Aggregate Technical and Commercial Los ses of State Power Utilities (within State) S. No State (Actual) Special Category States (Actual) (Actual) (in Percentage) (Provisional) 1 Arunachal Pradesh Assam Himachal Pradesh Jammu & Kashmir Manipur Meghalaya Mizoram Nagaland Sikkim Tripura Uttarakhand Non-Special Category States 1 Andhra Pradesh Bihar Chhattisgarh Goa Gujarat Haryana Jharkhand Karnataka Kerala Madhya Pradesh Maharashtra Orissa Punjab Rajasthan Tamil Nadu Uttar Pradesh West Bengal Delhi special category States). Private distribution utilities are not covered under the programme which has been a point of criticism by some States. Projects under the R-APDRP scheme were to be taken up in two parts. Part A focused on establishing reliable and automated system for sustained collection of accurate baseline data, and the adoption of IT in the areas of energy accounting and auditing and consumer-based services. Part B includes projects to strengthen the distribution system, including activities like automation

13 142 Twelfth Five Year Plan TABLE Viability of Major State Utilities Not Improving (Excluding Delhi and Odisha) Actual Actual Provisional RE Energy sold/energy available (%) Revenue from sale of electricity (` crore) 1,31,220 1,48,605 1,63,475 1,92,827 Total cost of electricity sold (` crore) 1,74,452 2,12,292 2,35,701 2,61,467 Commercial losses without subsidy (` crore) 33,290 52,452 60,172 59,050 Average cost of supply (paise/kwh) Average tariff (paise/kwh) Gap between the cost of supply and tariff (paise) Source: Power Utilities of various States and UTs. and validation of baseline system, project evaluations, capacity-building and development of franchisees in the distribution sector and consumer attitude surveys. Projects under Part B would be taken up after the baseline data is established (Table 14.13) The status of R-APDRP at the end of the Eleventh Plan is as follows: Under Part A of R-APDRP, 1,402 projects at an estimated cost of `5, crore have been approved for 29 States/UTs. Part A SCADA projects for 63 towns of 15 States have also been sanctioned at an estimated cost of `1, crore. Under Part-B of R-APDRP, 1,086 projects at an estimated cost of `24, crore have been approved for 20 States. All Part A projects have been awarded except in one State. These are under implementation and at a stage of advanced progress in several States. Part A of R-APDRP is to be completed by utilities in three years after its approval. Presently, there are no projects which have completed three years time since they were sanctioned. However, it has been observed that State procurement policy and procedures have delayed the appointment of IT consultants in some of the States. Rajiv Gandhi Grameen Vidyutikaran Yojana (RGGVY) RGGVY was launched by the Government of India in April 2005 as a comprehensive scheme for providing access of electricity to all rural households. The scheme involved electrification of all un-electrified villages plus a free connection for TABLE Details of Year-wise Progress Achieved on Restructured APDRP (as on 31 March 2012) Year Project Sanctioned Budget Allocation Actual Releases Part A Part B Total Loan Grant Total Loan Grant Total (` Crore) , , , , , , ,730 1, , , , , ,700 2, , , , , ,034 1, , Total 6, , , , ,465 5, , Source: Ministry of Power.

14 Energy 143 TABLE Status on RGGVY Progress during the Tenth and the Eleventh Plan Year Un-electrified Villages (No.) BPL Households (lakh) Target Achieved % Achieved Target Achieved %Achieved Tenth Plan ,000 9, ,000 28, Eleventh Plan ,500 9, ,000 12, ,500 18, ,500 18, ,500 7, Cumulative (as on 31 March 2012) * Revised coverage including Phase II projects. Source: Ministry of Power. 1,12,795* 1,04, * BPL households. The scheme provided a subsidy of 90 per cent of the total project cost and balance 10 per cent of the project cost was to be provided by the Rural Electrification Corporation (REC) as loan. Initially, Phase I of the RGGVY scheme was approved for implementation with a capital subsidy of `5,000 crore during the remainder of the Tenth Plan period. Subsequently, the scheme was approved to be continued in the Eleventh Plan with a capital subsidy of `28,000 crore. As on 31 March 2012, out of the total of 1,12,795 villages to be covered under RGGVY (including Phase II projects), works in 1,04,496 villages have been completed and only 8,299 un-electrified villages remain; 6,000 villages are targeted to be electrified during In addition, about 10,000 remote villages are to be covered by the MNRE through non-conventional sources. Overall, by the end of Eleventh Plan, out of the total 5,93,732 villages in India (Census 2001), 5,56,633 villages (93.8 per cent) have been electrified as per CEA report. Some of the villages which have been electrified, that is, connected to the grid, have not yet been energised. The gap is primarily in the States of Bihar, Jharkhand, Odisha and Assam. Most of the projects are expected to be completed during 2012 except in the north-eastern region and in areas involving difficult terrain The year-wise targets and achievements for RGGVY during the Tenth and the Eleventh Five Year Plan are given in Table Studies were carried out to evaluate the socioeconomic impact of electrification in Odisha. Other such studies are also underway. The key findings of the studies are: 1. Electrification has altered the household energy mix through substitution of traditional kerosene-based lighting source by electric light. This has resulted in energy and financial savings of households as families would no longer be subject to exorbitant price of kerosene. 2. Security within the villages as well as the quality of living of masses have improved. 3. Electrification has enhanced livelihood generation in the field of agriculture and related activities, small shops and other entrepreneurial activities. 4. Availability of electricity during post-sunset time allowed for extension of study hours for students. 5. Increased mobility and overall comfort, especially for women, have enhanced safe spaces and reduced the drudgery of household chores.

15 144 Twelfth Five Year Plan The RGGVY programme has several deficiencies in implementation. Firstly, nearly 6,000 villages electrified till December 2011 were still not energised due to lack of supporting network or other resources. Secondly, access to electricity in rural areas is still limited, especially in smaller hamlets. The traditional approach to policy and planning in power has assumed gender neutrality, thus failing to recognise that the needs of men and women can differ. Attention needs to be paid to livelihood activities of women and to their concerns of safety, security such as street lighting, healthcare, education and so on. Thirdly, poor financial health of utilities and high cost of power act as a disincentive for States to give new connections. Fourthly, some States do not have supporting network and are unable to provide energisation. Fifthly, a viable revenue model is yet to emerge. This has hindered larger access to new consumers Some of the other areas of concern are: 1. In certain States, even the minimum required hours of supply of six hours to eight hours could not be met. 2. There is a need to upgrade transformer capacity as the current average demand of BPL and above poverty line (APL) consumers is in the range of 300 to 500 watts and 0.5 to 1.15 KW, respectively. There have been several complaints of frequent burning of transformers. 3. The progress of release of APL connections is slow on account of poor supply of electricity, long delays in processing of applications and inadequate transformer capacity. 4. In many States, the distribution company takes a long time for issuing the first bill which can be anywhere between three to six months. Because of this delay, the total bill comes to around `1,000 to `1,500 which a rural household finds difficult to pay. This leads to a permanent high level of outstanding bills. 5. In most of the operating States, no franchisee was found in any of the surveyed villages and the Discoms had their own mechanism of meter reading, billing and so on. 6. As far as project preparation is concerned, it has been observed that in most cases, the detailed project reports (DPRs) were prepared in a hurried manner and quality was compromised. 7. As far as the socio-economic impact is concerned, it is found that electrification has so far not generated substantial employment opportunities or economic development in the rural areas except in a few cases. 8. The number of actual BPL families in the villages in many cases has been higher than the number indicated in the DPR. Status on Open Access The Electricity Act, 2003, mandates that nondiscriminatory open access for interstate as well as intra-state transmission and distribution networks be provided by the utilities. Effective implementation of open access is crucial for opening up consumer choices as well as encouraging a healthy trading function in the country. The open access at interstate level is fully operational. Starting from 17 BUs of energy transacted through Short-Term Open Access (STOA) at the interstate level in , the volume has grown to 55 BUs in While carriage and content separation at interstate level has been largely addressed by design, a point of concern has been the adequacy of carriage. Therefore, adequacy issues with respect to carriage need to be specified. Little progress has been made in the implementing of open access at intra-state transmission and distribution network level An inter-ministerial Task was constituted under the chairmanship of Member (Energy), Planning Commission in February 2008 to examine the status and make recommendations on the measures for operationalising the provisions of the Electricity Act, 2003 in respect of open access. The Forum of Regulators (FoR) has issued model regulations for intra-state open access in September Adoption of these model regulations by State Electricity Regulatory Commissions (SERCs) would go a long way in successful implementations of intrastate open access. Further, a Second Task Force was constituted in February, 2010 to review the progress made on the recommendations of the previous

16 Energy 145 Task Force and suggest further course of action on the issues upon which there was no consensus in the First Task Force. The report of the second task force has been received and States have been asked to take necessary action to implement the recommendations. Recommendations of the Task forces on open access are given in Box At the State level, Discoms need to create distribution control centres and empower them so that open access at the distribution level becomes a reality. The request for open access is given at the State level to the State distribution control centres. If these can be empowered to take a quick decision in accordance with the prescribed guidelines and norms for providing open access, the decisions will not be delayed. Such an empowerment of the State distribution centres is, therefore, is important for the open access. Financial Performance The approved Eleventh Plan power sector budgetary outlay for the public sector (Central and State sectors) was `5,72,648 crore which was per cent of the total Plan outlay. Summary of the year-wise investment made during the Eleventh Plan is shown in Table The Table indicates major shortfalls in case of central power sectors. This is primarily because the pace of capacity addition of NTPC and National Hydroelectric Power Corporation (NHPC) has been lower than the expected. The internal and REGULATORY AND SYSTEM CHANGES Box 14.2 Recommendations of Task Force on Open Access 1. SERCs to regulate the tariffs of all consumers of 1 MW and above in accordance with the provisions of Sections 42, 49 and 86 of the Act and fix only the wheeling charges (in conformity with section 42, read with section 62 of the Act) and open access surcharge. 2. Tariff to be charged by the discoms for providing standby supply should not exceed the maximum UI rate for the applicable hours plus a 5 per cent administrative charge thereon or alternatively, the bulk consumers may directly handle the UI supplies with the respective State Load Dispatch Centres (SLDCs) and to act as independent entities with financial and operational autonomy. 3. SLDCs should be upgraded in a time bound manner to enable open access, under section SERCs should ensure enabling arrangements such as metering and settlement. 5. Regulators should meet bulk consumers to take proactive action for encouraging open access. Timelines should be provided for the same. 6. The trading margin fixed by the Central Electricity Regulatory Commission (CERC) should apply in a seamless manner in any one transaction emanating from a generating company and terminating with a discom through multiple traders and should not exceed the maximum margin allowed to a single trader. CENTRAL GOVERNMENT 7. To earmark a specified proportion, say, 25 per cent of the Centre s discretionary allocation of 15 per cent of central public sector undertakings (CPSUs ) generating capacity which may be made available for direct sale by CPSUs to open access consumers. As for new and upcoming capacity of CPSUs, 75 per cent of the discretionary quota may be reserved for sale to open access consumers and the sale price should determine by bidding. 75 per cent of the profits made by the CPSUs on this account may be transferred to the respective states where open access consumers are located. 8. Scheme of UI charges should be reviewed to ensure that UI does not become a vehicle for gaming in scheduling. For this a mechanism should be evolved to facilitate corrective measures against gaming including stiff penalties. 9. Commencing from the Twelfth Five Year Plan, the Central Government should release Accelerated Power Development and Reforms Programme (APDRP) assistance only to States that comply with the above and enable consumers to exercise their statutory right to open access. A package of incentives and disincentives should also be formulated by Power Finance Corporation (PFC) and REC for States to operationalise open access.

17 146 Twelfth Five Year Plan Sector Eleventh Plan Approved Outlay TABLE Outlay/Expenditure: Centre, States and UTs (` Crore) (Actual) (Actual) (Actual) (RE) (RE) Eleventh Plan Likely Expenditure Per cent Utilisation States and UTs 2,25,385 27,243 31,577 34,059 43,749 48,068 1,84, Central Sector 3,47,263 29,596 42,242 44,528 46,746 70,390 2,33, All India 5,72,648 56,839 73,819 78,587 90,495 1,18,458 4,18, Source: Planning Commission. extra budgetary resource (IEBR) of the power sector CPSUs was 63 per cent of the original Plan targets. TWELFTH PLAN PROGRAMME Addition to Generation Capacity The Working Group on Power has estimated a capacity addition requirement of 75,785 MW corresponding to 9 per cent GDP growth during the Twelfth Plan period. However, in order to bridge the gap between peak demand and peak deficit, and provide for faster retirement of the old energy-inefficient plants, the target for the Twelfth Plan has been fixed at 88,537 MW. As shown in Table 14.16, the share of the private sector in the additional capacity will be 53 per cent, compared to a target of 19 per cent in the Eleventh Plan. Since the growth rate of GDP for the Twelfth Plan is likely to be 8.2 per cent and not 9 per cent, the target for capacity addition contain an element of slack of about 10 per cent The share of power based on non-fossil fuel plants is very low at present and should be increased over time to promote low carbon growth strategy. The share of coal and lignite in the additional capacity being created during the Twelfth Plan is 79 per cent, up from 76 per cent in the target from the Eleventh Plan which actually ended up at 79 per cent. The projected capacity addition in non-fossil fuel plants covers addition of hydro capacity of 1,0897 MW and nuclear capacity of 5,300 MW. Besides this, 1,200 MW import of hydro power from Bhutan has also been considered. In addition, it is planned to add a grid interactive renewable capacity addition of about 30,000 MW comprising of 15,000 MW wind, 10,000 MW solar, 2,100 small hydro, and the balance primarily from bio mass planned. Details of the projected Twelfth Plan capacity addition, sector-wise and mode-wise, are given in Table Power Generation The Working Group for the Twelfth Plan has estimated a requirement of 1,403 BU by the year , after taking into account energy conservation measures and demand supply management. TABLE Sector-wise and Mode-wise Capacity Addition (Provisional) during the Twelfth Plan (MW) Sector Hydro Total Thermal Thermal Breakup Nuclear Total Coal Lignite Gas/Lng* Central 6,004 14,878 13, ,300 26,181.6 State 1,608 13,922 12, , ,530.0 Private 3,285 43,540 43, ,825.0 Total (Excluding RES) 10,897 72,340 69, , ,300 88,536.6 Renewables 30,000 Total (Including RES) 10,897 72,340 69, , ,300 1,18,536.6 * Addition of gas capacity is provisional and will depend upon the availability of gas. This will be reviewed during the MTA.

18 Energy 147 Without such measures, the generation requirement is projected at 1,463 BU. Even if the moderate level of 1,403 BU is taken as the Twelfth Plan target, the projected growth rate in power generation will be 9.8 per cent The projected change in the mix of generation by fuel supply by the end of 2030 is given in Table The share of renewables in electricity generated is expected to rise from around 6 per cent in 2012 to 9 per cent in 2017 and 16 per cent in However, the share of hydro electricity is expected to fall from 15 per cent in 2012 to 11 per cent in The share of nuclear power, another clean source from a carbon emission perspective is expected to rise from 3 per cent in 2012 to 5 per cent in 2017 and to 12 per cent in Taking all these clean energy sources together, the share of hydro, renewables plus nuclear energy is expected to rise from 26 per cent in 2012 to 39 per cent by Renovation and Modernisation and Life Extension of Thermal Power Plants (R&M and LE) Coal-based thermal plants are the backbone of the Indian power sector. Most of the old and smaller size non-reheat type units are on the verge of retirement. R&M and LE is an economical option to supplement the capacity addition programme which was initiated in 1984 as a Centrally Sponsored Programme during the Seventh Plan. It continued till the Eleventh Plan and CEA has recommended for its continuance during the Twelfth Plan also. R&M of Hydro Plants The normal life expectancy of hydro plants is about years after which they need life extension. Many of the existing hydro power stations could be modernised to generate reliable and higher yield by restoration and modernisation schemes. These involve adopting modern equipments like static excitation, microprocessor-based controls, electric microprocessor, high speed static or numerical relays, data logger, optical instrumentation for monitoring vibrations, air gaps, and silt contained in water and so on. These measures would improve availability of hydro power stations and minimise outages. Routine maintenance activities are not included in these schemes. Only activities which aim at increasing the efficiency of the unit and improve availability or steps required to meet environmental norms, or aimed at renovating obsolete equipment controls and instrumentation, are included in R&M scheme. Exploitation of Hydro Electric Potential Hydro power plants, particularly storagebased, are generally planned for their ability to meet peak power demand. Estimated hydro potential in India is about 149 GW including the plants of less than 25 MW capacity. The total capacity developed and under development put together so far is about 32 per cent of this potential. A major part of the unexploited potential is in North-East and Himalayan regions. With the deployment of latest technologies we can harness the remaining potential without damaging the ecology. Table shows TABLE Changing Structure of Fuel for Electricity Capacity (%) Generation (%) Coal Oil Gas Hydro Renewables Nuclear Total Clean Energy ( )

19 148 Twelfth Five Year Plan TABLE Status of Hydro Electric Potential Development Region Total potential Capacity developed Capacity Under development (In terms of Installed capacity above 25 MW) Total Developed+ Under development (%) Northern 52,263 15,479 5,416 20,895 (40) Western 8,131 5, ,952 (73) Southern 15,890 9, ,937 (62.5) Eastern 10,680 2,908 2,713 5,621 (52.6) North Eastern 58,356 1,200 2,852 4,052 (7) Capacity yet to be developed (%) 31,368 (60) 2,179 (27) 5,953 (37.5) 5,059 (47.4) 54,304 (93) All India 1,45,320 34,506 11,951 46,457 (32) 98,863 (68) the status of hydro potential development in the country (above 25 MW). Peaking Power and Reserve Plants The generation system must be designed to meet base load as well as peak load of the power system and have the ability to respond dynamically and efficiently to variations in demand within a short time. Since our system has wide variation in demand during peak and off-peak periods there is a need for peaking support with very high ramping rate. Peaking power can be provided by reservoir-based hydro plants or gas-based generation. Apart from the above, an optimal power system should have adequate reserves to meet the contingency of outage of certain operating generation capacity. It is important to set up these capacities to meet peaking power demand. It will be necessary to start up 2,000 MW of peaking gas-based plants, despite the limitations on availability of gas improvement Since it is expensive to carry unutilised capacity, and power from gas is likely to be especially expensive, the ability to meet peak loads is critically dependent on introducing time of day metering with a sufficient difference between peak and off-peak tariffs. Pollution and Ash Utilisation An important positive development in the power sector is that the utilisation of ash has increased impressively from 9.63 per cent in to 56 per cent in This is the consequence of deliberative planning to reduce adverse environmental impact as the coal-based capacity expanded. There are 13 thermal power stations in the country which have achieved 100 per cent or more ash utilisation during the year The ash generation by coal/lignite-based thermal power stations is estimated to increase to 170 million tons per year by the end of and reach to a level of about 300 million tonnes per year by the end of the Twelfth Plan. The Ministry of Environment and Forests (MoEF) has issued notifications for achieving 100 per cent utilisation of fly ash. The quantity of fly ash which has to be disposed off in ash ponds shall be reduced significantly which will help in addressing problems of pollution. All project developers will have to meet the stringent requirement of environmental norms for setting up thermal power plants to minimise air and water pollution. Captive Power Plants A number of captive power plants (CPPs), including coal-based power plants of varied type

20 Energy 149 and size, exist in the country. These are either used in process industries or for in-house power consumption for large units. Capacity addition of around 13,000 MW of captive power is likely to be commissioned during the Twelfth Plan. Surplus power, if any, from CPPs is fed into the grid. The tariff for the surplus power is regulated. The captive power capacity generators find it profitable to supply electricity to the grid as the fixed cost has already been recovered by them from the power supplied for their captive use. The variable costs plus additional margins which is provided by the utility is found attractive by them for supplying power surplus to their use The installed capacity of CPPs has increased from 22,335 MW at the beginning of the Eleventh Plan to 36,511 MW (provisional) in March 2012, adding a total of around 14,000 MW addition of captive capacity during the Plan period. Fuel Supply Problems Although the pace of creation of generation capacity has picked up considerably, the fuel supply capability has not kept pace and serious fuel supply problems have arisen in the last year of the Eleventh Plan. Since 80 per cent of the additional generating capacity will be coal-based, resolution of coal supply to the power plants coming on stream will be crucial. With 50 per cent of the new capacity being created in the private sector fuel supply agreements have to be legally binding with credible penalties to reassure bankers and other financiers financing the establishment of capacity. The problems of coal supply are discussed in coal sector Availability of gas is also a problem as gas has yet to be ensured for 5,156 MW of gas-based projects commissioned during the Eleventh Plan period which are currently stranded/operating at a very low plant load factor (PLF) due to non-supply of gas. In addition to these projects, at least 2,538 MW of additional gas based capacity is expected to come up during the Twelfth Plan and as mentioned above, there is need for 2,000 MW of gas-based capacity to deal with peaking requirements. The requirement for coal, lignite and gas/lng for power sector at the end of the TABLE Fuel Requirement during Fuel Requirement Availability Coal 730 Million Tonnes 550 Million Tonnes Lignite 46 Million Tonnes 46 Million Tonnes Gas/LNG 207 MMSCMD* 102 MMSCMD* Source: Planning Commission estimates based on Working Group Reports on Power and Petroleum and Natural Gas. *In addition, about 17,500 MW gas-based capacity is under various stages of construction for which additional gas requirement is about 84 MMSCMD. Twelfth Plan period has been shown in Table Clearly domestic supply of both coal and gas needs to be augmented by imports. Since imports will be at much higher prices, some method must be found to make the higher priced fuel acceptable to generators. If domestic prices cannot be fully aligned with import prices, some resort to price pooling will be necessary and the scope for such price pooling must be urgently explored. Expansion in Transmission System and Capacity The large expansion in production and consumption of electricity has to be supported by a significant expansion and strengthening of the transmission network. Technological developments for transmission lines of 765 KV and 1,000 1,200 KV are of great relevance to reduce land requirement and transmission losses. Greater reliance will have to be placed on gas insulated substations which need about 20 per cent of the space required for conventional stations. This is an area where public investment can be supplemented by private investment and a good start has been made in the Eleventh Plan. It is important to build a policy framework within which more private sector investments will be forthcoming in the Twelfth Plan. A policy framework for public private partnership (PPP) and a standardised documentation is being prepared for use by the States A total of about 1,07,440 ckm of transmission lines; 2,70,000 MVA of AC transformer capa city and 12,750 MW of HVDC systems are estimated as needed during the Twelfth Plan. Table gives